Concerns that schools are becoming more and more like prisons have been bolstered by the revelation that numerous school districts are using “isolation booths” to place unruly children in solitary confinement as a punishment for bad behavior.

The controversy erupted after concerned mother Ana Bate found out from her son that Mint Valley Elementary School in Longview, Washington was using a padded isolation chamber to deal with students with “behavioral disabilities”. Bate obtained photos of the isolation box and posted them on Facebook, prompting outrage and interest from local media.

The school claims the isolation box is a “therapeutic booth” and that only children with special needs and parental permission are placed inside. However, Candace Dawson told KATU.com that her son was put inside the booth without her permission.

“He said that’s the naughty room,” Dawson told KATU News. “That’s what he called it. He said when kids are naughty they get put in there.” Dawson filed a formal complaint yesterday.

KATU also received a separate letter from another mother saying her child was also put inside the box without her permission.

The isolation box is also in use at dozens of other school districts in the local region, including Hillsboro, Battle Ground and Reynolds.

Bate’s son told his mother he was “distraught” at being forced to sit near the booth for 4 hours as a punishment for “roughhousing” on the playground. During that time, he said he saw several other children being placed inside, suggesting the use of the box is commonplace and not in extreme circumstances as the law in Oregon and Washington mandates.

“[He was] thinking it was scary, it was abusive, are they gonna do this to me?” Bate told KATU.

The isolation box is not a far cry from solitary confinement that is used in jails as a punishment for dangerous prisoners. Although the children are placed inside the box for a limited time, the psychological effect is far more likely to be damaging than “therapeutic,” as the school claims.